Everyone's a Professional now ...

[Sparrow]

Everyone's a Professional now ... Professional Photographers and Graphic Designers are no longer needed, when one can produce work to this standard in just a few minutes ...

... I photographed it with my phone to maintain it's artistic authenticity

 

[rbiemer]

You get what you pay for I guess...what's an "OAP cut"?

 

[Sparrow]

Old Age Pensioner ... I've no idea what tramlines are though

 

[Lauffray]

I don't know what's the bigger problem, that everyone thinks they can do "that cute artsy stuff" or that the wider public thinks this is an acceptable form of communication and it will just do

 

[Rodchenko]

Well, if you're an OAP, you wouldn't have enough hair to cut them in 😉

 

[Out to Lunch]

Then again, a professional designer would probably ask at least a hundred Pounds for the job and that's a lot of tramlines...

 

[FrankS]

I want to be a consultant.

 

[thegman]

Well, not every meal needs to be made by a trained chef, not every photo needs to be taken by a pro.

 

[benlees]

Well, not every meal needs to be made by a trained chef, not every photo needs to be taken by a pro.

This. How much is a barber going to spend on a little sign?

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I don't know what's the bigger problem, that everyone thinks they can do "that cute artsy stuff" or that the wider public thinks this is an acceptable form of communication and it will just do

If the people who make it and the people who read it are happy, then it's good. If other people don't like it, that doesn't provide any excuse to denigrate those who do like it. Going down that path leads directly to all out war over which end of an egg you open first.

 

[Sparrow]

If the people who make it and the people who read it are happy, then it's good. If other people don't like it, that doesn't provide any excuse to denigrate those who do like it. Going down that path leads directly to all out war over which end of an egg you open first.

... the top obviously, everything would run out otherwise

 

[Bobfrance]

If the people who make it and the people who read it are happy, then it's good.

If only the people who like it go into the shop how can you know what percentage of the people who saw it disliked it without getting a marketing agency involved to conduct market research?

😛

 

[thegman]

I don't know what's the bigger problem, that everyone thinks they can do "that cute artsy stuff" or that the wider public thinks this is an acceptable form of communication and it will just do

Is it a problem though? The fact is, depending on what sort of look you're going for, often anyone can do it.

Not everything of course, but just because you're paid to do it, does not make you any better.

I've been in restaurants where I'm pretty certain I can cook better (and I'm not some "serious amateur" or anything of the sort). I have read books where I feel I can do better.

But I've been in restaurants whose chefs' skills far outstrip my own, and read books which go way beyond my own writing ability.

Photography is one of those professions that a beginner can do a good enough job for many people, whether we like it or not. It does not have a high barrier to entry, and often, amateur skill sets are easily enough.

I think people who want to make money in photography would be better to stop criticizing the work of laymen, and improve their own skills/services/products to show that a professional is worth hiring.

 

[Monz]

Good prices.

 

[Lauffray]

Is it a problem though? The fact is, depending on what sort of look you're going for, often anyone can do it.

Not everything of course, but just because you're paid to do it, does not make you any better.

I've been in restaurants where I'm pretty certain I can cook better (and I'm not some "serious amateur" or anything of the sort). I have read books where I feel I can do better.

But I've been in restaurants whose chefs' skills far outstrip my own, and read books which go way beyond my own writing ability.

Photography is one of those professions that a beginner can do a good enough job for many people, whether we like it or not. It does not have a high barrier to entry, and often, amateur skill sets are easily enough.

I think people who want to make money in photography would be better to stop criticizing the work of laymen, and improve their own skills/services/products to show that a professional is worth hiring.

I agree, my idea wasn't properly worded. For simple enough things and depending on your audience, I don't think you should 'design' everything, but in the cases where you do and have to use the services of a professional it leads to the perception that it's cheap work that anyone can do, and there are people trying to make a living from designing things.

 

[valdas]

Good prices.

I had a cheap haircut once. The next day I had another one to correct the first one...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I had a cheap haircut once. The next day I had another one to correct the first one...

I'm going to have to steal that.

 

[doolittle]

Mercifully no extraneous apostrophes on the sign. We must count the small blessings!

 

[Timmyjoe]

On Friday, when I was covering the Legislative Session in the Illinois Capitol, we got word that the entire Chicago Sun-Times photography staff had been terminated, replaced by "iPhone photographers". This is after years of losing more and more work to folks who submit "iPhone" pics to publications for free that editors consider "good enough" to use so they don't need to pay "professionals".

There was a heartbreaking moment at the end of the session Friday night, below is my capture of that moment (which thankfully I am still being paid for):

And here is the same moment captured by an "iPhone photographer" that other editors said was "good enough" and they used:

It is discouraging.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Sparrow]

.. just to be clear, that flyer came through my letterbox earlier today, I'm not making anything of it other than it's aesthetic failings ... nothing political or self-aggrandising